Fire and Fury

Most countries do not have nuclear weapons, and most of those countries have been in no danger of attack or invasion for decades.

But North Korea's apparent acquisition of them has placed it under imminent threat of obliteration.

Having nuclear weapons is a sign of being an extremely insecure state, in the way that having the other "ultimate deterrent" is a sign of being an extremely violent society.

The Britain that had capital punishment had horrific levels of violence against women, and of violence against and within the working class, while ferocious violence against children was experienced universally, to the point that it was organised, institutionalised, and lauded as character-building.

And the Britain that has nuclear weapons has had a series of terrorist problems, has had at least one direct invasion of its territory, and has not been at peace in 16 years and counting.

Already a member of the small, but singularly charming, club of executioners, let us extend a warm welcome to North Korea as it joins us, if it has really done so, in the even smaller club of nuclear weapons states, the unsafest states in the world.